Sweden’s public health agency has recorded, as it announced, the first case of a new contagious variant of mpox (Monkey Pox) outside the African continent.

The person became infected while staying in an area of ​​Africa where there is currently a major outbreak of mpox Clade I, the agency said, and apparently carried it on his way back to the Scandinavian country.

The news comes a few hours after Mr World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the mpox outbreak in parts of Africa was now an international public health emergency.

Mpox, formerly known as monkey pox, is spread through close contact, including sex, skin-to-skin contact, and talking or breathing near another person.

It causes flu-like symptoms, skin lesions and can be fatal, with four in 100 cases resulting in death.

There are two types of mpox, the Clade 1 and Clade 2. While Clade 2 caused a public health emergency in 2022, it was relatively mild and has already appeared in Sweden.

The Swedish public health agency said Clade 1 is likely to be associated with “a greater increase in a more severe disease course and higher mortality.”

The Clade 1 variant is most often transmitted through close contacts within the family and friendly environment and often to children, while the milder variant was mainly transmitted through sexual contact.